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Being a special needs parent is...

30 December 2015

Dear friend,

Being a parent is amazing, exhausting, awe inspiring, confusing... full of contradictions. It is everything and nothing like I expected. When my son was 5 he was diagnosed with autism, one of life's curved balls and we had to learn to parent a little differently. Lots of friends sent us a poem to read. It was called; Welcome to Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley. Ironically most people who sent this did not have children with special needs. I think it was a well meaning attempt to empathise with how I was feeling and perhaps they felt it had added significance as I live in Holland.

Initially I loved the poem however, over time I have become less comfortable with the hint of disappointment expressed. Here is my attempt to describe my feelings...

Our experiences are unique and it is how we choose to respond to them that defines us. We need to trust that in the end we will all arrive at the place we need to be.

There comes a time when you have to let go, face the fear and embrace the unexpected! One thing is certain, I am going to make dam sure I enjoy the ride!

I posted a version of this post in March 2015: What is parenting from a special perspective. It was published in The Mighty.The post was revised in November 2016.